Is this safe to assume?

[Antmf]

I have been reading a lot about bard class and from my understanding is this right?
lvl Blm to 18 then Whm then start bard? Also what weapon is best dagger or sword and what instrument is better string or flute and why? PLease let me know. I read the guide but it seems people have a few different opinions on this so please be speciffic. Thanks all...
P.S. I am looking to get to 75 asap so please keep that in mind. Thanks...

[KoukiRyu]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

Neither weapon is very important if you're in a rush, as you won't be using them very often. You'll pretty much be only using staff later, and before then it's not too important unless you wanna get a Monster Signa. You need both instruments, neither is better than the other.

Don't rush to 75 btw...it makes the game less fun, and you'll burn out a lot faster than somenoe who has fun while they play.

[DakAttack]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

Black Mage to 18, White Mage to 30, unlock Bard. From there you can level White Mage to 37 to finish it, or level Bard to 60, then White Mage to 37, then Bard to 75.

Bards usually use daggers but they can use staves as well for MP and healing purposes, and different instruments provide bonuses to different kinds of spells so it's situational.

Edit: Bards can also use swords, but they usually stick to staves until they get a Joyeuse.

[Illuen]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

Really, with BRD, you don't need to worry about skilling up your weapons to fight, and you don't need to pick one to stick with. What you really should do is look at the different weapons and see which gives you the best boost for the stats that you feel you are lacking in, be it CHR, MP (I know some BRDs don't like to use MP often, but I find it useful to throw a Cure in the mix when the WHM needs it) or such.

[Necropolis]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

There are a lot of variables to bard.

One is subjob, the two main subjobs are /whm and /nin.

/Whm is for back up cures, statis effect removers and more support.

/Nin which you'll see more and more of the higher you get is to pull.

If you are looking to level as fast as possible it's best to have both of these leveled to get more party invites (not that bards have problems with invites) and to preform better and get more exp/hr.

Dagger is bard's "better" weapon with a B-, but sword is acceptable as well but only has a C-. The majority of bards that I know do not melee however. They use the elemental staves after 51 for song potency, and earth staff on pulls to reduce damage taken.

String and Wind instruments are both needed as well. String effects the area of effect, Wind effects the accuarcy of songs. So again, it's best to have both. Some instruments have +1 or +2 to certain songs as well, so many bards have a number of instruments available to them.

As for you weapon choice, most bards I know use a dagger for thier Maat fight, so be sure to skill up your dagger so you don't have to play catch up later.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

lvl Blm to 18 then Whm then start bard?

That works; WHM is the support job for BRD for most uses. (You need a Lv.30+ job--any job--in order to unlock Bard anyway.)

Also what weapon is best dagger or sword and what instrument is better string or flute and why?

In parties, BRD's do not really spend much time swinging weapons. Once you have Ballad (Lv.25), it'll be running back and forth between the frontline for melee buff songs (Madrigal, Minuet, and/or March) and the backline (Ballad) during exp sessions. Between songs, running around, backup healing, and Finale, you'll have more than enough to do.

Instrement wise, it's all about getting the ones which increases the effects of songs. For example, you'll want the Mary's Horn for Lullaby.

The only real weapons are elemental staves at Lv.51--Light Staff for Cures, Dark Staff for hMP. Also, you'll want to match the offensive songs' elements to the correct staves for better accuracy. (e.g. Match Elergy with Earth Staff.)

[Achaicus]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

Since Bard is to be my 1st job to get to high level, still used my dagger. But, before anyone 'bites my head off' I should point out that I did so little of it that it never got in the way of my buffing ^~

Actually, I could have rotated the use of a dagger, sword and staff enough to level those skills as well. But, at least, I also rotated the use of my horn & harp instruments to keep those skills up too.

[Ameroth]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

When you assume, you make an ass of you and me.

Sorry. I don't have much else to contribute that hasn't already been said. You'll be wanting to sub whm a great deal of time with bard, so make sure you have it properly leveled all the time.

[Malacite]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

They use the elemental staves after 51 for song potency, and earth staff on pulls to reduce damage taken.

I'm positive that songs are only affected by skill level and instruments. Didn't SE come out and say this at some point? I've never noticed any effect increase from my light or dark staffs.

EDIT: Sorry, I meant song potency. CHR just affects resist rates.

[Necropolis]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

The elemental staves effect debuff songs for bards. Finale, Requiem, Lullaby, Elegy, and Threnodies are the songs effected by staves. They each have elements and are effected by the appropriate staff.

Edit: I believe this more effects accuracy, so my saying potency may have been misleading. It's more for resist rates, not additional damage.

[Achaicus]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

Though this probably goes without saying for most, but without +Cha I get resisted, therefore, it is not exclusively skill & instruments. My skills were capped when I experimented with that. Even so, I did notice the same sort of thing at a point where my skill was not capped and then became so.

[DR2D2]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

Just a thought:has anyone tried /cor with Bard? If so, do you think that would work?

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Is this safe to assume?

Just a thought:has anyone tried /cor with Bard? If so, do you think that would work?

There was a BRD/COR discussion thread not long ago.